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Interlude: Letter to the Centostella Kingdom

In the Centostella Kingdom, a few days after Rio and the others arrived in Yagumo...

Takahisa was holed up in his room as usual while Masato swung his sword around in the training area.. First Princess Lilianna’s knight, Hilda, was sparring with Masato that afternoon, teaching him how to refine his swordcraft. Aki was watching them practice from a distance.

While he still had a long way to go to catch up to Hilda, the career soldier and captain-ranked knight, Masato was improving every day. He was able to cross swords at a high level.

Over ten minutes had passed since they began sparring. Their matches didn’t end with a decisive exchange, continuing on endlessly by the participants resetting their positions. This meant they were panting rather heavily, out of breath.

“Breaks are important too. Let’s rest for a moment, Sir Masato.” Hilda halted in her movements, catching her breath. Masato stopped as well.

“Yes, Instructor Hilda,” Masato replied cheerfully, gasping for breath. He lowered his wooden training sword and wiped his sweat with a sigh.

“Your efforts are paying off today too.”

Lilianna, who had just arrived at the arena a short moment ago, approached the two. The reason why Hilda had called for the break was because she had seen her.

“Here you go, Sir Masato. Have a drink too.” Lilianna’s attendant, Frill, offered Masato a towel and drink.

“Oh, thank you, Frill... Phew, that hits the spot!” Masato thanked her warmly and drank. During that time, Aki also made her way over, quietly.

“Sir Masato, a letter arrived from the Galarc Kingdom.” Lilianna handed Masato a letter.

“Wait, really?! It must be from Satsuki.” Masato opened the letter happily. The sender was Satsuki, but Rio and Miharu also wrote messages whenever they were in Galarc. Masato cast his eyes over the letter in excitement while Aki stared at it in curiosity.

The letter reported on the recent situation of Satsuki and Rio. Rio had departed on another journey with the others, so this time the letter was written by Satsuki alone. She wrote about how they had fun living together in the mansion Rio received on the Galarc Castle grounds, about the bathtub there, and about the sleepover they had. There was also a message Rio and Miharu wanted to pass on to them. Finally, she wondered how Masato and Aki were doing.

“Huh, so Celia also went to that village... I wonder if Arslan’s doing well,” Masato mumbled to himself fondly as he read the letter. Once he reached the end, he noticed Aki’s gaze and offered her the letter.

“Here, you read it too. You’re curious, right?”

“You sure...?” Aki asked hesitantly. She figured the contents were directed at Masato alone. After what she and Takahisa did at the banquet, Miharu and Satsuki only kept in touch with Masato.

“I’m saying it’s fine, so it’s fine. They’re worried about you as well, you know?”

Go on, Masato urged with a wave of the letter.

“But...” Aki lifted her arm hesitantly, then immediately lowered it again.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you care about Miharu and Satsuki? There’s stuff written about Haruto too,” Masato encouraged.

“But after what I did...”


Aki was probably recalling what she had done to Miharu and Rio at Galarc as guilt plagued her expression. She didn’t have the right to read that letter, she thought.

“You’ve really reflected on it after all...”

“...” Aki ducked her head in silence. Ever since she came to Centostella, not a day had passed without her remembering what happened in Galarc. And every time she did, she was filled with gloom. Those feelings intensified every day.

But was that really a form of reflection? Aki didn’t have the confidence to say so. That’s why she couldn’t agree or disagree with Masato’s view.

“I wouldn’t show our brother this letter, but I think I can show you. So read it.”

“Why...?” Aki asked fearfully.

“Unlike Takahisa, you’ve actually reflected on it, and you regret what you did, right?”

“...” Masato kept saying words like ‘reflection’ and ‘regret,’ but Aki couldn’t agree with them. She remained silent—it was easy to call it reflection and regret, but so what? They were words that were only said when seeking forgiveness. Words used when seeking forgiveness, even though she was the one who was wrong.

Wasn’t that too convenient? She had done such a terrible thing... Wouldn’t it be too convenient to seek forgiveness after that? That was the question that filled Aki’s head.

That being said, she wasn’t so sure anymore. She definitely felt sorry for Miharu. She felt conflicted about Haruto, but she also felt guilty for that. She could accept that she had done something wrong.

But when she thought about Takahisa, she was also filled with a helpless emotion that she couldn’t put into words...

Aki really had no idea anymore. Her mind was all over the place. She wanted Miharu to conveniently appear and save her. And that in turn spurred on her guilty conscience further... She just couldn’t say she was reflecting on or regretting things.

Then, Lilianna looked at Aki.

Lady Aki has reflected on things and regretted them, which is causing her so much pain right now. In contrast, Sir Takahisa is...

She thought of Takahisa, who wasn’t present right now.

What’s done was done and would remain as a fact—there was no erasing that. That’s why Aki continued to suffer over it.

Takahisa was in similar pain, but he had shut himself in his room and refused to interact with anyone. When Lilianna compared the two, she just couldn’t see him suffering in the same way as Aki.

Time is needed to take a proper look at yourself. That’s what I believed, but...

Was that really the right thing to do? There was no telling if Takahisa reflected on what he did in Galarc and regretted it. Lilianna was starting to lose confidence.

“Well, whatever... I’ll leave this letter with you, Aki. You can decide when to read it for yourself. Here.”

Masato ran out of patience for the silent Aki and placed the letter in her hand.

“But...” Aki reflexively tried to push it back.

“Stop thinking so hard. You can just read it when you want to. How about you write what you’re feeling in a letter to Miharu? That’s another reason why I’d like you to read the letter, actually. I’ll give you the other letters as well.” Masato pushed the letter back firmly.

“...” Even after hearing that, Aki couldn’t read the letter right away. However, she didn’t try to return it to Masato anymore, and instead hugged it to her chest dearly.



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